Nashville Symphony | Norman Huynh, conductor 

Experience your favorite Christmas film transformed with the music of a live symphony orchestra in Elf™ in Concert! Audiences can rediscover the magic of this holiday classic while your Nashville Symphony performs John Debney’s wonderful score and Santa Claus soars across the big screen in high-definition.  

Rated PG.  

Nashville Symphony | Jason Seber, conductor | Vanderbilt Youth Choirs

A Music City holiday favorite, this beloved comedy classic features renowned composer John Williams' charming and delightful score performed live to picture by the Nashville Symphony. Macaulay Culkin stars as Kevin McCallister, an 8-year-old boy who is accidentally left behind when his family leaves for Christmas vacation, and who must defend his home against two bungling thieves. Hilarious and heart-warming, Home Alone is holiday fun for the entire family and a Nashville Symphony yearly holiday tradition!

Rated PG. 

Members of the Nashville Symphony | Chris Norton, conductor

Join members of your Nashville Symphony brass, percussion, and organ sections for a festive and joyful holiday concert. Audiences of all ages will rejoice in beautiful, seasonal selections like "The Suite" from The Nutcracker, March of the Toys from Babes in Toyland, “Joy to the World,” and “Sleigh Ride.” Our musicians can’t wait to share our classical Christmas celebration with you, your family, and friends in the splendor of Schermerhorn Symphony Center.  

Nashville Symphony & Chorus | Tucker Biddlecombe, chorus director 

Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 21, 1685. After his death in 1750, his music fell into near obscurity until a 20-year-old Felix Mendelssohn conducted a revival concert in 1829 that changed the course of music history.  

Tonight we celebrate the composer the world almost lost. The evening spans the full range of Bach's genius: the Brandenburg Concertos No. 2 and No. 3, with their dazzling interplay of instruments; the achingly beautiful Prelude from the Cello Suite No. 1; the Toccata and Fugue in D minor — one of the most instantly recognizable pieces ever written, heard in everything from Fantasia to Halloween soundtracks; the stately grandeur of the Suite No. 3 with its famous Air; and the beloved "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring."  

The evening culminates in the Magnificat: Bach's most jubilant choral work, a blazing setting of Mary's song of praise for chorus, soloists, trumpets, and full orchestra. Nashville Symphony Chorus Director Tucker Biddlecombe conducts. 

Program

Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major, BWV 1047
“Prelude” from Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048
Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
Suite No. 3 in D Major for Orchestra, BWV 1068
Magnificat, BWV 243
“Jesus bleibet meine Freude” from Cantata No. 147 ("Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben"), BWV 147

Nashville Symphony | Nathan Aspinall, conductor | Inon Barnatan, piano

In 1802, Beethoven sat alone in a village outside Vienna and wrote a letter to his brothers that he never sent. He was going deaf. He was in despair. He contemplated ending his life. Then he went home and wrote music so full of joy and light it astonishes listeners to this day.  

The Piano Concerto No. 4 opens with the soloist alone, quietly, as if thinking out loud, before the orchestra responds. The New York Times calls pianist Inon Barnatan "one of the most admired pianists of his generation." He has recorded all of Beethoven’s Concertos, to great acclaim. 

Symphony No. 2 closes the evening in pure exuberance. It’s Beethoven's defiant, life-affirming answer to everything the world had thrown at him thus far. 

Program

Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, op. 58
Symphony No. 2 in D major, op. 36